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Urban Outfitters Request to Move Trademark Case Denied

ICTMN Staff

1/22/13

Apparel and furnishings merchant Urban Outfitters has been denied its request to change the venue of its trademark infringement case with the Navajo Nation.

The dispute stems from Urban Outfitters' practice (since discontinued) of branding mass-produced faux-native items "Navajo." In 2011, Natives protested such products as the "Hipster Navajo Panty" and the "Navajo Print Flask," as well as items sold by the company's Free People division that may not have been authentically Navajo-made.

The Philadelphia-based company sought to move the case to the eastern district of Pennsylvania, giving as its reasons convenience and the experience of the Pennsylvania court with trademark issues. While the court in Albuquerque agreed that the case would move faster in Pennsylvania, it denied the request last week because granting it would have inconvenienced the Navajo Nation.

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As a Non-Native, I agree with the court. All Urban Outfitters was saying, IMO, is that...we want it moved to Pa. because we will win there. I've shopped for authentic Native American items most of my life. So far, I've found a "Native American Trading Post" in Sweden, and a lot tagged "Made in China". Go figure